D-Day Invasion of Normandy June 6, 1944

Today marks the 73rd Anniversary of the D-Day Invasion at Normandy, which took place June 6th, 1944.

The D in D-Day stood for "day" since the final invasion date was unknown and dependent upon the weather conditions. D-Days saw 156.000 Allied troops from the Unites States, The United Kingdom, Canada, Free France and Norway storm the beaches along the 50 mile stretch of Normandy. The beaches were code named Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. Omaha was the costliest beach in terms of Allied casualties. The Allied forces uses 5000 ships and landing craft, 50,000 vehicles and 11,000 planes.

The United States' forces suffered 6603 casualties and 1465 service members were killed. United Kingdom forces lost 2700 lives, while Canadians suffered 946 casualties and 500 lost lives. It's estimated that the Axis forces suffered 9000 casualties and 4000 lives were lost.

D-Day was the turning point of the war. By June 11, 5 days later with the beach heads firmly secured, more than 326,000 troops had crossed with more than 100,000 tons of military equipment. Paris was liberated on August 25, 1944, and Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945.

History Channel's Clip on D-Day

Saving Private Ryan was a 1998 American epic war film set during the invasion of Normandy in World War II. It was directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. Noted for its graphic and realistic portrayal of war, the film is especially notable for the intensity of its opening 27 minutes, which depicts the Omaha Beach assault of June 6, 1944